The Whippy-Dip - 1st Half Text Plus Full Audio W-Illustration

Here's why this is necessary... This is, as indicated, the 1st HALF of this fairly lengthy poem. The 2nd half had to be posted separately due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations. No other way I could manage to make it happen... I hope you'll take the time to read the 2nd part - it's a wonderful story. Thanks for reading (or listening), Mark - While drifting through a sleepy town some years ago, near Memphis, I spotted something I’d not seen in many, many years. I hit the brakes and did a U-ie, pulled in just out front, Then, seconds later, felt my startled eyes confronting tears. A drive in theatre, looking like it couldn’t have shown a picture - Or sold a bag of popcorn - for a decade…maybe more, Stood there, staring back at me, while a bit of mathematics Told me I’d not been in one since 1964! I noticed, as I scanned the place, the screen looked rather weary, The parking lot was pretty rough and overgrown with weeds. Racing through my mind were thoughts of how it used to be… The sort that every boomer over fifty sometimes needs To fortify the way they view their past. The way they feel About the days of long ago, when they were young and strong. I surfed my trusty I-pod ‘til I found some Elvis tunes, Then closed my eyes and watched him, as he sang my favorite song. The song - and show - of his I love the most is, “Love Me Tender.” His timeless music’s common, but his films are hard to find. The giant screen reminded me how quickly we forget, And how it’s true that, sadly, out of sight is out of mind. But being late was not a good idea for my appointment, So back into the car I dove…then back into the race. Smiling as I drove away, I hoped to long remember The way it felt to spend some quiet moments at that place. But I had driven barely maybe six or seven miles When I confronted something that we all have often seen: Posing on a corner - in another tiny town - Was what was called “The Whippy-Dip”…your basic dairy queen. Far enough ahead to give me time to safely stop, Thoughts of being late flew out the window, and I did. The gal who took my order must have felt a little spooked To see me come a runnin’, like some frantic little kid. “I’ll take a chocolate sundae and a large banana split,” I wheezed in my excitement…“and a smoothie - lemon-lime.” Her puzzled look, that seemed to ask…..“All that - for just one guy?” - Showed she didn’t realize…I was stepping back in time! From end to end the place was rife with mem’ry-tweaking items, And in the background “Rick” was crooning…“Hello, Mary Lou.” And the folks that filled the picnic tables, young and old alike, Beneath the pink and yellow glow were - all but for a few - Softly singing with him, and I grabbed a nearby seat. I swear that I have never seen a more nostalgic sight, But when I went to get my food, I saw a sign that read, “Friday, August seventeenth…will be our final night!” “You’re closing for the year?” I queried. “Seems a little early. Summer’s barely half way over, hon. Is something wrong?” “Sir,” the gal explained to me, “we’d love to keep it open. It’s always sad to see a place that’s been around this long “Take the fall, but rising costs - and ruthless competition’s - Lured away too many of the customers we had. I’m the youngest daughter of the man who built this place, And closing it, I’m sad to say, will all but kill my dad! “The “Cherry Top” - in Baxter - held an auction back in April. The year before the “Zesto”, down in Wilton, closed its doors. Everything we sell is just as good - and often cheaper - But it’s an uphill battle fighting giant franchise stores. The 2nd HALF of this wonderful piece is on the Soup at, obviously, Poems by Mark Stellinga".